Adding playful smile lines

…Alright, we've got ourselves a kind of wry smile…at this point, but it's far too subtle, which is…why in this movie we're going to dress things up…by adding some smile lines as you see right here.…So, I'll go ahead and switch to my document…in progress, and I'll zoom in on it as well.…And I'll press the A key to switch to the white arrow tool.…I'll click on the lips path here, and I'm…going to lift this control handle on the right-hand side.…In order to add some additional curvature to the lip.…And I'll go ahead and click on this path in the background,…that's inside the clipping path and I'll click that anchor point right there.…

And I'll press the up arrow key a couple of…times to life it upward, so that it's matching the path.…Now i'll press the V key to switch to the black arrow tool, and I'll click on…this path outline right there and I'll press Shift+Up…arrow,a total of four times to raise it upward.…And I'll click on this path outline.…And press Shift+Left arrow to move it to the left, a total of two points.…

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Released

4/22/2014

Designs dekeConstructed is a new series that breaks down the creation of cool designs so you can build them on your own. This installment is for everyone who needs an online avatar—that tiny image that has to communicate a thousand words about who you are in less than a square inch. Start by taking a photo of yourself facing forward—the traditional passport style. From there Deke McClelland takes you through the steps to transforming your photo into a cartoon avatar with Illustrator: tracing your features, refining and exaggerating the strokes, adding color and shading, and using gradients and patterns to fill in details like hair. Plus, learn some tricks for infusing your drawing with an extra bit of personality and exporting your final image in the best format for social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.